What does biodiversity have to do with the food we eat?

15/03/2016

Biodiversity is one of the world’s most precious resources. All life on Earth provides us with the food we eat, cleans the air we breathe, filters the water we drink, supplies the raw materials we use to construct our homes and businesses, is part of countless medicines and natural remedie. Biodiversity provides us with a wide range of plants and animals: different species form a basis for nutrition, cultural traditionc and medicines.

What does biodiversity mean?

Biodiversity is the biological diversity of plants and animals, it’s a very complex concept and usually when we talk about biodiversity we refer to:

Genes:

Genes give organisms different characteristics that determine the way we look and behave.

Species:

A species is a group of organisms that can reproduce. Earth supports millions of species, many of which are not yet identified. At the moment, there are over 375,000 known species of plants that produce flowers and 15,000 known species of mammals and birds.

Ecosystem:

An ecosystem is the nature in which species live.

Nutrition and Biodiversity

Farmers living in different areas have different climates, landscapes, microorganisms, plants and animals so they must adapt their growing practices to local conditions. However, all farmers rely on ecosystem services. The way that farmers grow crops and raise animals can be either good or bad for biodiversity. On one hand, farmers can support biodiversity through careful farming methods. On the other hand, if farmers are not careful, the environment and organisms on and near the farm can be harmed.

What can we do to protect biodiversity?

Learn about biodiversity and food issues: where your food comes from and about how food is grown and raised around the world. Understanding biodiversity is important to understand how humans should live while respecting the Earth’s finite resources.

Whenever possible, choose healthy, local and sustainable food and buy products from companies that value the environment and people. Companies will sell what people want to buy, so tell companies that you want products that do not harm biodiversity.